Chapter 25 Making Connections
Last Chapter:"Don't worry," Draco said, squeezing her hand. "It'll be okay. What did you want to tell me?" "It's nothing. I'll tell you later," Hermione answered thinking that Lucius might still be able to hear them. Looking once more at the destruction of her room and thinking about the animosity in his father's eyes, she shivered and walked out of the Head Dorm with Draco for the last time.
...Lavender Brown, 17 (Student); Cho Chang, 18 (Apprentice Healer); Albus Dumbledore, 153 (Headmaster, Order); Regis Brocklehurst, 20 (Auror); Justin Finch-Fletchley, 17 (Student); Oliver Wood, 21 (Quidditch Player); Terry Boot, 17 (Student); Hannah Abbott, 17 (Student); Pamona Sprout, 74 (Professor); Fred Weasley, 19 (Store Owner, Order), Charlie Weasley, 24 (Dragon Trainer, Order)...
Hermione's eyes were drawn to the familiar names, but those weren't the only ones on the sheet. The list went on and on, naming those on the Light side who had been killed during what was becoming known as the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione saw names of aurors that she had trained with. She recognized the surnames of others, who must be family members of her classmates. She didn't know some of the names on the list; they were just people who had answered the call to fight against the most feared dark wizard in history, in spite of the denials issued by the Minister of Magic about his return. The seventeen year old Gryffindor thought that those were the real heroes.
Hermione stopped reading, her mind not wanting to believe that all these people were gone. Kingsley had said that though the Light had won, it was at a heavy cost. The portkey necklaces were a device of the their side only. Voldemort's forces hadn't bothered trying to capture anyone; they had killed all who stood against them. That meant while the majority of Deatheaters were imprisoned in Azkaban, there were woefully few trained Light wizards and witches left to capture the ones on the loose. Hermione put down Kingsley's list and returned her attention to the discussion going on around her.
The Head Auror was outlining his tactics for apprehending renegade Deatheaters. Lupin was there as well, and he wanted the seven teenagers to be part of the hunting teams that they were sending out. When Harry agreed that they would help, the auror said he would assign each of them to be with a different team, so that they could cover more ground. However, Harry stipulated that they would only assist the teams in trios or quads. When Lupin asked why, Harry just shrugged saying it was how they had trained. Hermione raised her eyebrows at the lie. Harry just looked at her with a quick shake of his head when the two older wizards weren't looking.
"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Kingsley said. "You seven will probably be particular targets. You may want to think of sticking together in groups anytime you're in public for a while."
Later when they were walking towards the Infirmary Hermione brought it up. "What was with the trio and quad thing, Harry?" she asked him.
The green eyed wizard answered, "I don't know exactly. It just seemed better to do it this way. I got a really bad feeling when Remus talked about us working separately."
Hermione thought about that and said seriously, "Maybe you're having a premonition of some sort. Kingsley is right, though, it can't hurt to stick together as much as possible."
In the Infirmary, they found George dressed and sitting in a chair. Ginny was perched on the edge of the bed closest to him talking seriously. Luna and Neville were helping Madame Pomfrey across the room but kept a concerned eye on the two. Ron went straight up to his sister and brother.
"Hey George," Ron quietly greeted him, his face showing his pain to his brother. George jumped up and grabbed Ron in a hug not saying anything.
Hermione hadn't realized how closely Ron actually resembled George until now. He and the twins took after Molly's side for the family, while the other Weasley siblings had features that were more similar to their Dad.
Once the brothers had separated, she and Harry went to George also. Harry tried to convince him to come to Grimmauld Place, but George turned him down with a fierce light in his eyes. He was going to stay with Bill, because he had asked to be on the same Deatheater hunting team that his brother was leading.
"Verity can run the store for us until all those bastards are in Azkaban or dead," George declared, his usual good humor completely gone.
Hermione noticed that he had used the plural instead of the singular. From the quick looks that passed between the others, nobody else had missed it either.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The six of them returned to Grimmauld Place with Arthur, once George had gone to Shell Cottage with the eldest Weasley sibling. Hermione had felt a growing uneasiness that she couldn't explain as the evening passed. She noticed the others were also a bit out of sorts.
After dinner, they all went into the library to talk about the events of the day and tomorrow's plans. Luna sat between Ron and Neville on the couch, while Ginny, Hermione and Harry squashed together on the loveseat facing them. Draco finally made an appearance and the friends smiled or called out as they noticed him in the doorway. The pale boy looked even whiter and stressed, so Luna went over to him in concern.
"Are you okay, Draco?" she asked taking his hand, leading him over to the couch and pushing him into the spot previously occupied by herself. "You'd better sit down."
"Hey, I want you to sit next to me not ferret boy," Ron said to her, though his concerned look at Draco took the sting out of the old nickname. Luna answered by dropping onto his lap and resting her legs across Draco and Neville. She found a comfortable position and smiled in contentment.
Neville accio'd a glass from the kitchen and a quick aguamenti filled it with water for the boy next to him. Draco seemed to relax once he'd drank the water and settled back in amidst his friends.
Draco had gone through a tough few hours. Seeing his mother had really taken a toll on him and he'd felt awful all afternoon. His father had lectured him on the expectations of being a Malfoy. He knew Lucius had seen him embracing Hermione, though he didn't specifically mention her. The seventeen year old hadn't realized how drained he'd become until his father had taken him to dinner in Diagon Alley.
When Lucius had started in again, this time mentioning "mudbloods knowing their places", Draco knew he had to get out of there. He'd stood up and told his father that he had to go and that he'd visit Mother again the next day. He'd walked right out of the restaurant and apparated back to Harry's house. He knew his father would be angry. He had wanted his son to go back to the Manor with him but right now Draco didn't give a shit. Looking at the faces of his friends, he knew this was where he needed to be. He felt better already.
"How's your Mum?" Harry asked him.
"She woke up but was really confused," the blond answered. "She recognized me, though. I just held her hand and talked to her. She's really weak and out of it. They want to keep her longer."
"Are you all right?" Hermione asked in looking at him intently. "You looked terrible when you came in."
"I'm all right now. I just felt horrible seeing Mother like that," he replied not mentioning Lucius' constant lecturing. Hermione knew he was holding something back, but decided to ask him later.
"I understand," put in Neville, thinking of his own visits to the hospital. "I'll come with you the next time you to go. That way I can see my Mum and Da, too."
They all offered to go, which made Harry bring up Kingsley's suggestion. They agreed that it would be prudent for no one to go off alone for now. It just seemed to make sense.
Later that night, Hermione was curled up in bed with Draco in his room this time. They still hadn't revealed their relationship to the others. It wasn't a matter of not trusting anyone, they were beyond that stage. It was simply that they thought the others would spill the beans to Molly, whether inadvertently or by design. Draco had commented that if Ron wasn't getting any, he wouldn't put it past him to make sure Draco was in the same boat. There was no way they wanted their doors monitored at night.
The witch looked at his troubled face and asked, "What else happened today? "
"It was Mother. She woke up like I said and smiled at me, but the instant she saw Father, she went absolutely crazy. She started crying and screaming and thrashing around. She was so upset that the healers were afraid she would damage herself. They had to give her a calming draught. Even then, she didn't truly calm down until he had left. I stayed with her alone after that but she had such a broken, frightened look in her eyes. We couldn't get her to snap out of it. I don't know if she even understood anything that I said to her," he explained his tone really upset. His father's words had added to his burden, but he didn't want to tell the witch next to him about those conversations because it would just make her feel bad too.
Hermione decided not to share her news about being pregnant while he was so clearly torn apart by his mum's condition. She decided to wait until tomorrow for a better time. Wrapping her arms around him, she offered her lips to him trying to take his mind off of his troubles. Draco gladly took the comfort that she offered, grateful as always for her strength and love.
~*~*~*~*~*~
About three weeks later, Hermione still hadn't found the right opportunity to tell Draco about their child. After their visit to Hogwarts that afternoon, the adults had given them a couple of more days of peace before deciding that the members of the heptet were ready to join in the action. They were all still living together at Grimmauld Place, in spite of visits from Neville's grandmother, Luna's father and Lucius Malfoy. Falling back on Kingsley's comments, they told their relatives that it was better for them to be together. Mrs. Weasley and her husband were glad to act as chaperones and de facto parents, just so she could keep an eye on all of them.
Their days had been full with hunting Deatheaters, checking in at Hogwarts, and visits to St. Mungo's Hospital. Each day, different members of the Order had been in and out of the house using it again as their base. Tonks and Draco immediately took to each other, finally getting to know the cousin that they had been kept from as children. The teens were glad to see their older friends who all treated them as adults now, instead of just junior Order members. Molly, of course, still insisted on treating them as children.
The teens used the library as their haven from everyone and everything. If they didn't have duties, the friends seemed to converge there to pass the time with whoever else was free. Hermione found that she was becoming as close to Neville and Luna as she was to the others. Each night regardless of who had spent time with whom, the seven always regrouped in the library to rehash how their day went and plan for the next one. Their bond of friendship grew stronger as the days passed.
Currently, Hermione was running through the ornamental gardens behind Flint Manor chasing three men named on the lists that Snape and Lucius had made. This was her fourth such assignment; this time it was Harry, Ron, and herself working with two aurors and an order member. The protocol when seeking a suspected Deatheater within his home was simple. All family members were gathered in a public room and asked to bare their forearms. Those with Dark Marks were taken in for questioning and their wands subjected to Priori Incantatem.
Possession of a Dark Mark was enough to warrant detention, but it did not guarantee a prison sentence if there were no indications of dark magic being used by the owner. They had found a few men and boys that had clearly been coerced into taking the mark. One Slytherin fifth year had been terrified and the recall spell placed on his wand had showed that the most offensive spell that he had ever cast had been a jelly-legs jinx. He was released into the relieved custody of his mother since his father was being sent to Azkaban; his wand was found to have been used to cast all three of the unforgivables.
This time, though they weren't facing a frightened teen, but a strong family of purebloods. The patriarch of the Flint family had demanded to know where they were holding his heir, Marcus. The boy hadn't been seen for the past three weeks. His father had not believed the truthful denial of the aurors about his whereabouts and he had refused to bare his left arm when asked to do so. In the middle of the interview, Flint had abruptly stunned the senior auror while two other Flint males had shot curses at the rest of the group. The three men then bolted out of the terrace doors into the gardens. They needed to get beyond the boundary of the property in order to apparate away.
The women of the house had immediately thrown themselves in front of the team trying to create confusion and hinder their pursuit. The wizards on the side of the Light had hesitated to hex the women, subconsciously not wanting to fight "ladies". Besides, the women weren't under warrant like their men and hadn't used their magic to impede the team. Hermione, though, had no such qualms. Quickly casting a stinging hex onto the hands of the woman holding her arm, she was the first one out the door after the fugitives.
She followed the sounds of running feet and sped after the fleeing wizards along a path lined with benches and statuary. She couldn't see them, as tall shrubbery had been used to separate various sections of the garden and the path twisted somewhat among them. She came to a clearing with a fountain that had been turned off for the winter in the middle of it.
The teen was forced to duck behind the fountain as a shot of red light came streaking towards her from the other end of the clearing. She popped up and shot four rapid spells in the direction from which the curse had come, before dropping below the rim of the fountain again. She was rewarded with a thud and a bout of swearing from up ahead.
Cautiously peeking around the fountain, she saw Marcus Flint's father on the ground not moving and a second wizard with an indecisive look on his face. He glanced first at the fallen man and then at the route to freedom behind him. Obviously making his choice, he stepped away from his kinsman and turned to flee again. Hermione stood up with her wand pointed at him unwilling to let him get away.
"Stop where you are," she yelled. "Drop your wand or I'll stun you."
The man swung his wand in her direction, but she had been ready for him. She cast stupify and knew she had him. However, Hermione was so intent on him that she didn't see the third wizard step out from the shrubbery behind her and aim his wand at her. As she watched her target fall to the ground, the spell from behind hit her. She felt herself flying through the air and a sudden blossoming of PAIN. She dimly heard her name being screamed and then she heard no more.
Harry and Ron came into the clearing as Maddock Flint pointed his wand at their friend's back. Their combined spells hit the wizard at the same time throwing his now unconscious body ten feet back, but not in time to stop his curse from hitting their best friend. Ron screamed her name as she was blasted off of her feet and hurled directly against the fountain. Her head impacted the stonework and she collapsed to the ground. The two boys rushed to her unmoving figure.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"She's so strong, Mother, and really smart. She always knows what the right thing to do is. I've been a real ass to her and she always forgives me."
At St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Draco suddenly stopped his monologue and looked up from his mother's sleeping face troubled. He had been describing Hermione to her, though he never mentioned the witch's actual name when a sudden sense of foreboding shot through him. He released his mother's hand and went to the door of her room opening it. In the hallway, Ginny was on her feet with a worried look on her face, the quidditch magazine that she had been reading forgotten on her chair. Without saying a word, they started moving together towards the front of the hospital. At a cross corridor, the spied Neville and Luna heading their way from the long term residents' ward, where they had been visiting the Gryffindor boy's parents. Neville had his arm around Luna who was shaking. The four looked at each other in unease and continued in the direction of the main area of the hospital.
As they neared the front desk, they could hear a familiar voice yelling, "What do you mean we can't go back there? Open the damn doors you old bat!" Ron was nearly vibrating in his agitation.
"We are her family. She needs us to be back there with her. Please let us through," Harry's voice was more reasonable, but he looked at the witch behind the desk with hard eyes.
"I can't do that. Now go away before I call security," the woman answered and went back to the paper she was reading. The only way to get to the treatment area was through a set of double doors that were charmed to only allow personnel, patients and properly authorized visitors through. Clearly, she didn't think any of these three designations applied to the disheveled wizards in front of her.
As the four other teenagers arrived on the scene, Ginny moved up next to Harry placing her arm around his waist. Draco put his hand on Ron's shoulder steadying him and then pushed him towards Luna and Neville. He stepped up to the desk. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Hermione was hurt and this one won't let us back there," Harry told him tersely. Draco felt his heart stutter.
The woman behind the desk gave them all a sour look and said primly, "Hospital regulations state that only real relatives may accompany a patient into the emergency treatment area and only one at a time."
"I don't give a shite about your fucking regulations. Do you know who I am? I'm Draco Malfoy. That is Harry Fucking Potter and Ronald Weasley. I'm sure you can guess who these others are," Draco said dangerously pointing to each of his friends. "You've got Hermoine Granger back there and we are going to see her. If you can't let us through, you'd better get someone who can or we will let ourselves through. That precious paper of yours," he jabbed his finger at the Daily Prophet she was holding, "should have told that you we killed Voldemort, so one pissant little bureaucrat isn't going to stop us."
The witch's eyes had gotten larger with the mention of each name and her mouth gaped open like a fish. Draco was about to verbally blast her again, when the doors opened and an older mediwitch stepped through. She took in the situation with a glance, and gestured the group over to her. She knew who they were.
"I'm Healer Strutney. I take it you wish to see Miss Granger. I'll allow one of you back to see her now because she's asking for you, not because of who you are," she said calmly, reminding them of Professor McGonagall, and indicating that she had heard Draco's rant. She held up her hand to stifle their protests and continued in a voice that made clear that no arguments would sway her. "She's being moved to a regular room for the night. The rest of you can see her there in a short while. Go up to the fourth floor and check in at the desk there. Now who is coming back with me?"
Ginny immediately volunteered, daring anyone to contradict her. They just nodded and quickly made their way upstairs. The redheaded girl followed the mediwitch towards her friend.
Hermione was feeling mostly fine; the spells and potions had healed her concussion leaving her with just a mild headache and sore shoulder. Emotionally, she was really relieved to have finally been able to talk to a healer about her pregnancy. After assuring the young woman that everything they discussed was completely confidential, Healer Strutney had examined her and the baby. Hermione thought carefully about what the healer had said to her while the mediwitch left the room to find Harry and Ron.
According to the the diagnostic spells, Hermione was in her eleventh week of pregnancy with a baby girl. I'm having a girl, Hermione thought joyfully. Her daughter was completely healthy and developing normally. When Hermione had asked why she was losing weight instead of gaining, the elder witch had assured her that it wasn't uncommon in the first trimester for some women. They would monitor the situation and only worry if it did not reverse itself in the upcoming weeks.
Of more concern, the healer had informed her seriously, were her current activities. Healer Strutney had known who the girl was, and understood her importance in the ongoing battle against the dark wizards. However, she had cautioned her patient, Hermione's current lifestyle could seriously harm her child. She had seen the protection spell during the examination, but stated that it was a poor substitute for keeping herself safe. The strain of the physical and magical activities that she was putting herself through almost daily were severely detrimental to her own health. Her body needed to be at its best to nurture her child and prepare for her birth.
Hermione decided that it didn't matter if the timing was right or not. She would tell Draco about their baby girl the next time that they were alone together. When Ginny rushed into the room, the girl in the bed hugged her in happiness. The younger witch thought it was because Hermione had survived another dangerous situation. The older one knew it was because all her secrets would be out in the open soon.